Kansas City Royals: Biggest Trades In Recent Years

Former Kansas City Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist (18) celebrates with manager Ned Yost (left) – Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

July 28th, 2015: Royals trade for Ben Zobrist

The last BIG trade that the KC Royals were apart of, was acquiring utility man Ben Zobrist from the Oakland Athletics.

People figured once Cueto came to town, that that was the end of the jaw dropping trades for Kansas City. Cueto cost them a lot, and the team didn’t have a whole lot of other prospects to be sending away.

Just two days after the Cueto trade was official, Dayton Moore made another move, and showed he was all in on his team in 2015. He went and got Zobrist from the Oakland Athletics, who were having a miserable year on the bay, and could use some young prospects for the future.

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Zobrist’s acquisition was important because Alex Gordon had gone down with a groin injury earlier in the month and was slated to miss six to eight weeks. Zobrist was the type of guy who could play almost any position in the infield and in the outfield.

He was originally put in left field to begin with, and also spent time at second base and even at third base.

The Royals sent Aaron Brooks and Sean Manea to Oakland for Zobrist, two more pitching prospects the Royals had, and people seemed more comfortable with this trade. Still though… Five young pitchers in the span of two days had been sent to other teams.

Ben Zobrist ended up being a huge part of the Royals’ postseason and eventual World Series winning run. In fact, for only spending three months with the team, it’s safe to say that Zobrist is one of the most popular Royals in team history.

Zobrist went a different way this off season, joining his former manager Joe Maddon and the Chicago Cubs on a four-year deal worth $56 million.

Was trading for Ben Zobrist worth it?

Absolutely. Zobrist was able to fill in the gap in left field during Gordon’s absence, and then jumped on second base in place of a struggling Infante. Zobrist remained at second base for the rest of the season, and batted second in the lineup, providing a huge spark to the front end of the Royals lineup.

Next: Were they all worth it?